Old & New

A/N: Had to rewrite the Shisui & Itachi encounter so many times cause it just didn't feel good. Hopefully, it's a little better now.

After seeing such a large explosion, Rei increased his speed. In a couple of seconds, they were just a few hundred meters from it. Holding out his hand, he immediately manipulated the Reishi in the wall causing an opening to appear. After getting close to the opening, both Rei and Shisui flew through as it closed behind them.

Immediately Rei's face showed a look of shock. They had entered just a few meters away from where the explosion had occurred. However, even so, the ground beneath them was caved in and split like glass. Turning his head, he immediately spread out his senses. 'Fuyumi, Zabuza, Haku, and five others.' Sensing that Fuyumi and the others were still alive, Rei sighed inwardly.

However, excluding Haku, Zabuza's state was currently pretty bad, and Fuyumi was fluctuating erratically. "Let's hurry up, Shisui." Shisui, who was behind Rei, nodded as they began running towards where everyone was. In a matter of moments, the battlefield came into view, and it looked a lot worse than Rei could have imagined it would.

Haku was currently guarding both Zabuza and Fuyumi while glaring at two figures wearing strange black cloaks with red cloud-like patterns. Zabuza was still conscious, but blood was leaking down his face, and he was breathing heavily. Fuyumi, on the other hand, was lying on the ground unmoving, which caused his worry to grow.

Her entire body looked as if it had been exhausted beyond belief to the point even her eyelids turned darker. Seeing all this, Rei didn't hesitate to use Flash Step and practically disappeared. In an instant, Haku felt someone appear behind him, and as he quickly turned his head. "Rei?" Seeing who it was, his face turned more passive, and a sense of relief washed over him.

Catching up a few seconds after, Shisui appeared next to Rei. "Haku, what happened here?" Haku glanced at Rei and Shisui and then to Itachi. "It was him… He did something to Fuyumi and used some strange Jutsu to defeat Zabuza. I couldn't react in time, so all I could do was defend them." Hearing that, Rei's eyes fell onto Itachi releasing overflowing amounts of killing intent.

However, Shisui, who was at his side, simply stared at Itachi wide-eyed. Itachi, who in turn spotted Shisui did the same, and the two stayed that way until Shisui spoke. "Itachi?" Itachi's eyes widened as his vision faltered. 'It can't be him...' Compared to Shisui, who hadn't aged a day compared to his memories, Itachi had grown up, but Shisui still recognized him.

The two of them had based their ideology on one another. They both had the hopes of protecting the Leaf in their own way. But Shisui died before he could truly see it through. He had invested his hope into Itachi and gave him his last remaining eye as well. But looking at Itachi now, Shisui was at a loss.

Haku had clearly said Itachi was partially responsible for most of this, which left Shisui in a state of confusion. "What happened to you..." Shisui's eyes clearly conveyed his thoughts as Itachi's gaze dimmed. 'I saw Shisui die... But this isn't a Genjutsu or a Disguise. How is this possible?' Itachi had so many things whirling through his brain at this moment that he froze up.

He had done what he could to protect the Leaf. However, he had committed sins that would leave even a normal person appalled. He had slaughtered their clan, and the very one Shisui hoped wouldn't fall into ruin after his death. After a few more moments, the stabbing-like pain caused Itachi to clutch his eye and falter towards the ground.

Seeing this, Shisui was about to rush towards him but was stopped when Rei held up his hand. He had seen Itachi's Sharingan, and in turn, he could find out exactly who he was through the process of elimination. Shisui had a history with Itachi. He knew that much, but at the same time,e he had crossed a line Rei had mentally set.

Having been stopped by Rei, Shisui looked back at Itachi with mixed feelings. "You can talk it out with him later. For now, focus." Shisui took a deep breath and tried his best to steel himself as he nodded. He knew Itachi was alive, but he had changed so much he couldn't help but wonder what would happen.

At the same time, he felt relief knowing Rei wasn't going to kill him. Rei remembered he had sensed five people in this area. Two of them were obviously Itachi and Kisame, so he began looking for the other three. Near the edge of the forest, away from the danger, he saw three figures. Two of them observed him and everything else going on, and the third was lying unconscious up against a tree.

'Is that?' Recognizing Ino behind the Leaf Anbu, Rei's expression changed slightly. 'This whole situation is strange. But for now…' Rei turned his sights to Itachi as he prepared to capture him. Seeing this from the side Kisame glanced at Itachi and saw that he was out of it. 'Dammit, this situation just went from bad to worse. I thought this mission would be easy, but just more and more freaks keep appearing.'

After fighting with Fuyumi, he was already on the ropes, and dealing with Haku just made his injuries worse. Taking a deep breath, he yelled out. "Itachi, snap out it!" Grabbing Samehada, he threw it towards Itachi at full strength. Snapping out of his frozen mindset Itachi turned his head and caught Samehada.

Looking over at Kisame, he could already tell what he was planning to do. A moment of hesitation swept over Itachi as he looked at Shisui. 'Shisui, I don't know how you're alive... I'm sorry, but the explanation you want will have to wait.' Shisui saw Itachi quickly turn and dash in the opposite direction.

Just as Rei prepared to chase Itachi down, he heard Kisame's voice as he stood in his way. "I'm afraid my partner is too busy to deal with you at the moment." Rei's target was forced to switch to Kisame as they glared at him. 'Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well take this one down with me!' Weaving hand signs, Kisame planned on using his remaining Chakra to halt Rei.

"Water Style: Thousand Hungry Sharks!" Water exploded out from under Kisame's body like a flood gate. The water then began to rise and stretch, completely blocking everyone's vision. "We need to move!" Haku's expression turned grim as he saw a massive wave formed from thousands of sharks made purely of water.

Riding on top of this wave, Kisame smiled as he directed it to move forward. Rei had stopped moving as the large wave of sharks began to crash down. "Rei, fall back!" Breaking out of his urge to chase after Itachi, Shisui immediately called to him. Haku grabbed Zabuza while Shisui grabbed Fuyumi and prepared to run.

'Rei doesn't have his Shikai activated. He won't be able to protect us even if he can protect himself.' Yet compared to their panic Rei showed a calm look facing such a large wave. He spoke slowly to himself as he chanted. "Let your light crash from the heavens. Create the gate, Seal the heavens, Overwhelm those who commit folly and shield those who cower."

"Bakudo #81: Danku." Appearing in front of Rei in an instant, a large screen of light placed itself in the center of the wave's path. Seeing this, Kisame laughed. "A barrier like that won't be able to stop this Jutsu!" As his Jutsu impacted, the Bakudo spell Kisame's face fell from one of confidence to disbelief.

On impact, the barrier didn't budge a single inch, nor did it show any signs of swaying. "So a Jutsu of this level isn't even equal to something at rank 80?" Rei's voice remained calm as the centerpiece of the wave hit and scattered against the barrier. Water was splashed in every direction, but everything behind Rei remained perfectly dry.

As the center of the Jutsu came apart, so did the rest of it shortly after as the sharks made of water dissolved and collapsed before splashing onto the ground. "What kind of Jutsu was that." Having watched the whole thing from the sidelines, the Anbu from the Leaf was in shock. While only being a B-Rank Jutsu, the amount of Chakra Kisame poured into gave S-Rank levels of power.

But in an instant, that thin barrier Rei made put a stop to it. Seeing this from behind the barrier as well, both Haku and Shisui just looked at Rei's back in disbelief. "Just how much stronger did he get after entering isolated training?" They knew Rei was strong, but it was mostly based on the fact he had Ryujin Jakka.

But now they didn't know what to think. Rei's talent for training and learning was abnormal; it was the main reason Ryujin Jakka chose him out of all of the Kuto Clan Leaders who wielded it before. Having retreated back after having his Jutsu countered, Kisame showed a shocked look.

"I see. This is why the Leaf was so afraid to the point of withdrawing Ninja from their borders." Kisame had heard the rumors but seeing it was an entirely different matter. The barrier in front of Rei disappeared as he looked at Kisame. "Are you done trying to splash me with water?" Kisame could hear the laxness in Rei's voice.

While he wasn't directly insulting him, he was clearly treating him as a non-threat. "Relax, I originally planned on killing you. But it's clear you're working with an organization I'm not aware of, so I changed my mind. I'll be taking both you and your partner back with me alive, though, if you don't talk..."

Hearing Rei's threat, Kisame revealed his shark-like teeth while growling. "All of you! Can go straight to hell!" Jumping into the air, Kisame's gaze bared down on everyone with burning intensity. Condensing the rest of his remaining Chakra, Kisame spoke in the tone of a roar. Producing hand signs, he finished by pushing his hands together.

"Water Style: Super Shark Bomb Jutsu!" Thrusting his palms out in a form that replicated that of the jaw's, a large figure appeared behind. Even compared to before, the size of Jutsu dwarfed his last. Gathering tons upon tons of water, it all came together to form a massive shark. It completely eclipsed the sun as it created a massive shadow on the earth below.

This time both Haku and Shisui didn't hesitate to move out of the impact zone even with Rei there. "Now Die!" As the giant Water Shark Bomb swam through the air, Rei looked up at it with a slight frown. "Reduce all creation to ash. Ryujin Jakka!" In instant Spiritual Pressure that was enough to cover miles upon miles of land fell like rain.

Immediately the heat that began radiating from Rei's body caused the clouds above him to disappear and flames to shoot out from both his body and Ryujin Jakka. "Get down!" Shisui yelled to Haku and the nearby Leaf Anbu as they were retreating as waves of heat passed over them.

Also feeling this Heat, Kisame's eyes glistened but not out of fear but instead confidence. 'That type of fire is impressive to be able to produce such an effect. However, it's still not enough. My Shark Bomb Jutsu not only eats Chakra but even an amateur knows Fire Style is weak against Water.'

With that in mind, he continued to bear down on Rei. Holding the release from Ryujin Jakka, Rei raised its blade into the air. "Taimatsu." Swinging downwards, the flames coating Ryujin Jakka burst forward. Despite how big the Shark Bomb was, the flames almost instantly matched its size as a torrent of them charged towards the Water Shark.

"Ha!" Planning to devour the Chakra of the flames, Kisame pushed on as the flames impacted his Jutsu. However, instead of the devouring of Chakra, he only saw torrents of Steam erupting in front of his view. "What! That's not possible. Why is my Jutsu evaporating!" Not only was it harder to freeze and control water filled with someone else's Chakra but evaporating something of this size was a near-impossible feat.

And while Kisame's train of thought was correct, there was an issue with it. That would be against normal flames based using Chakra. However, since training, Rei has constantly focused on controlling and tempering his ability to use Ryujin Jakka properly. And the end result was the original flames produced by Ryujin Jakka that were as hot as the surface of the Sun. And, of course, those flames weren't created using Chakra in the first place.

What kind of Water Style Jutsu could survive that? In an instant, the giant Water Shark disappeared into a sea of steam which was quickly overcome by an even larger wave of flames. Kisame's vision turned from a bright blue to a deep piercing orange as he was engulfed. "Aah!" Finally, a piercing scream rang out from Kisame before Rei sheathed Ryujin Jakka.

Under his control, the flames immediately extinguished themselves as a body fell from the sky and onto the ground. Feeling the battle was finally over, Shisui and Haku, carrying Zabuza and Fuyumi, rose from out of cover. Rei sighed as he called them over with a wave of his hand. The two of them didn't hesitate as they ran over to him.

"Take Fuyumi and Zabuza into the Soul Society and get them healed immediately. The Medical Squad Zabuza brought with him won't be able to provide it sufficiently." Hearing Rei, the two of them nodded as he said something else, glancing over at the Anbu from the Leaf. Rei gave the two of them very specific instructions before turning towards the direction Itachi ran off in.

"Of course, even if I'm taking him alive, he's going to have to pay for what he did to Fuyumi."